Tag Archives: yes

I noticed this week that at the same time I started thinking about which presidential candidate I will vote for in November, I also started getting upset and putting down the other presidential candidate in my mind. So then I started thinking about how the wisdom people exhibit when they use toothpaste could be of use to us in an election year. (If you have no idea how toothpaste relates to picking our candidate, I will expand.)

This is what I mean. Think about the toothpaste a guy named Jake chooses to use each morning. Jake already has the tube of toothpaste, so this means he has weighed the pros and cons of this toothpaste versus other brands of toothpaste and chosen to pick this one.

Each morning Jake simply says, “YES” to the toothpaste he has chosen. As he brushes his teeth, he doesn’t spend time thinking about why he said “NO” to other the brands of toothpaste. Jake doesn’t spend his morning getting frustrated and angry at the other brands of toothpaste for not being good toothpaste. Rather, Jake simply brushes his teeth with the toothpaste he has chosen and then goes on with his day.

The brands of toothpaste that we CHOOSE NOT to buy won’t get our teeth clean. Only the toothpaste we purchase and brush with will.

In the same way, once we’ve weighed the pros and cons and chosen our candidate, further thinking about the reasons we dislike the other candidate is like spending time each morning contemplating why we dislike the brands of toothpaste we are NOT using. Such thoughts don’t help us feel good.

Further, such thoughts may even make it more difficult for us to be of support to our candidate. Can you imagine if you asked someone why she liked her toothpaste and she spent the next hour telling you why she disliked another brand of toothpaste? At the end of the hour, you might have literally forgotten which brand of toothpaste she actually liked. You might even be inclined to go out and buy the brand she disliked because after listening for an hour you feel that you at least know something about that brand.

This election year, may you weigh the pros and cons, and then really choose to focus on casting a confident and positive YES vote for whichever presidential candidate you have chosen.

Game of the Day

How can the ideas in this blog be of use to you during this election year?

Jason Freeman is a professional writer, and a one-of-a-kind public speaker. He is the founder and CEO of Heroic Yes! Productions. Jason has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Nebraska. He knows the pain of perceiving one’s life through a lens of limitation and also the thrill of moving beyond that mindset. For more information on Jason’s powerful message, or to book him to present to your organization, go to www.HeroicYesProductions.com.

If you think like me, your first response to this question is “Of course, why wouldn’t I be! My dreams are my dreams after all.”

Now think about another question:

If your dreams all suddenly came true in the next 15 minutes, would you be prepared to fully embrace them?

I’m realizing that the honest answer to this second question is often more complicated for people, myself included, than a simple “YES!”

Realizing our dreams whether it is to make lots of money, develop new relationships or achieve some other big goal will definitely change the circumstances of our lives (sometimes radically). Part of us is programmed to be concerned about change (even very positive change) because it represents unpredictability and the departure from the safety of our stable routines. These concerns can sap our excitement about our dreams and our motivation to achieve them.

Discovering our concerns about our dreams coming true can be exciting and joyful work because navigating through our concerns is like moving past mile markers on the way to achieving our dreams.

With that in mind, these are four concerns that may come up as you move towards achieving your dreams:

It can be very confusing to get in touch with our concerns about our dreams coming true.

Yet, I’ve discovered that getting in touch with these concerns is the first step in working through them and in this way actively preparing for our dreams to come true.

This is cause for celebration!!!

Game of the Day

Think about one of your dreams and how good it will feel to realize that dream.

Now think about any concerns that come up as you contemplate the changes in your life that will take place as you realize that dream.

Acknowledge these concerns as natural.

What are some ways you could work through these concerns so that you are free to say a resounding “YES!” to your dream?

Congratulations! You just took a little time to prepare for your dreams to come true!

Jason Freeman is a professional writer, and a one-of-a-kind public speaker. He is the founder and CEO of Heroic Yes! Productions. Jason has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Nebraska. He knows the pain of perceiving one’s life through a lens of limitation and also the thrill of moving beyond that mindset. For more information on Jason’s powerful message, or to book him to present to your organization, go to www.HeroicYesProductions.com.

I had the honor of writing a guest article on Nancy Battye’s website. Nancy is an incredible woman who created the tele seminar series ‘Sow a Seed of Self Confidence – Spark Your Ultimate Success.’ I am deeply appreciative to Nancy for inviting me to be one of the speakers in her powerful series.

Check out Nancy’s inspirational website and read the article I wrote on the link below.

There are at least two types of requests we make on a regular basis. One is the “Almost Guaranteed YES” request. We make this type of request and we’re practically certain that we will receive a “YES” in response.

A good example of this type of request is checking out at the supermarket. When we get to the front of the line, if we have the proper payment, we are almost completely certain that the clerk will respond positively to our request to buy food. There’s virtually no chance that the clerk will shake his head and make us put the food in our cart back on the shelves.

“Almost Guaranteed YES” requests cause us little anxiety because we are almost certain that we’ll get what we desire.

Then there’s a second type of request that can cause us ample anxiety and cause us to act in ways that are frankly funny. This is the “Maybe Yes, Maybe No request.” This second type of request can be much more tricky for us because when we make this request we’re truly uncertain if we will receive a “Yes” or “No” in return.

I’ve noticed that we may cope with this uncertainty surrounding a “Maybe Yes, Maybe No request” in several unproductive ways.

Sometimes we fall into the “I Don’t Care” mode when we’re making our request so that we won’t feel hurt if we get a “NO”. This is a tempting tactic because pain is, well, painful. However, when we numb ourselves to our desire to have our request fulfilled, we may well influence the person making the decision without meaning to. For who wants to say, “YES” to a request issued by somebody who doesn’t appear to care if his or her request is granted?

Or we go in the opposite direction of numbness and become so anxious that we oversell the person that we’re making the request of. We oversell the person on the importance of them saying “YES” to our request to the point they feel manipulated and as if they are not totally free to say “NO” to us. This kind of pressure can produce all kinds of responses, but probably not the wholehearted “YES” that we truly desire.

Rooting for a “YES” is an art form because it involves staying passionate and excited about your request. AND at the same time not overselling it. I’ve found that striking this balance takes practice, practice, practice….

AND more practice…

Then what happens if the person whom you’re making a request of puts the two letters “N” and “O” together and says “no,” “NO” or even “NO!!!!” to you?

One affirmation that may help you to stay strong when receiving a “No” is to repeat to yourself, “Who I am is priceless. YES! I’m far more expansive than any ‘No’ I could receive.”

It’s also important to remember to say “YES” to the wholeness of the person who said “NO” to you, because it’s sometimes easy to be frustrated and bitter with that person. (This isn’t fun for either of you and also lowers the likelihood of them being excited and saying “YES!” to your requests in the future. An affirmation you could say to yourself in regards to the person who said “No” to you might be, “YES! (insert person’s name) is priceless and far more expansive than any “No” he (or she) ever could give.

Repeating these affirmations, as well as, doing whatever relaxation exercises you find effective, will hopefully help the charge you feel around receiving a “NO” to gradually dissipate.

Once the charge dissipates, let the fun begin again as you make new requests.

Life is amazing and expansive. There’re many people out there waiting to say “YES” to your requests. Find them and ask for what you truly want.

Game of the Day

How can you root for a “YES,” and still stay strong if you get a “NO?”

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Jason Freeman is a professional writer, and a one-of-a-kind public speaker. He is the founder and CEO of Heroic Yes! Productions. Jason has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Nebraska. He knows the pain of perceiving one’s life through a lens of limitation and also the thrill of moving beyond that mindset. For more information on Jason’s powerful message, go to www.HeroicYesProductions.com.

Four years ago, I lived in Sioux Falls, SD, while Hilary Kimblin, a massage therapist and yoga teacher lived in Los Angeles. Four years ago, Hilary and I had never met. Four years ago, Hilary did something that empowered me to transform my life. And neither of us had any idea until this past Sunday.

Do you have any idea of all the ways that you positively impact the people around you?

Laughter Yoga is a unique idea where anybody can laugh for no reason. The best way to see what Laughter Yoga looks like is to Youtube Laughter Yoga and be prepared to laugh.

The final presenters at this Laughter Yoga conference were a dynamic couple, Jill and Dan Johnson. Their presentation was entitled, “How Always Saying ‘YES!’ Changed Our Lives.” I was highly interested in their presentation because on a number of occasions their decision to say “yes” empowered me to transform my life.

You see Jill and Dan said, “Yes” to becoming Laughter Yoga Teachers based on an experience Jill had. After that they said “Yes” to starting a free Laughter Club in Sioux Falls, “Yes” to organizing a Laughter Yoga Leader training and “Yes” to training me to become a Laughter Yoga Leader.

Through leading Laughter Yoga sessions, I gained my confidence and love for public speaking and through attending Laughter Yoga conferences I made the friendships that would inspire me to move to San Diego. Basically, these were very radical changes in my life. Before becoming a Laughter Yoga Leader, I avoided public speaking like the plague and never imagined I would move to California.

How does Hilary, who I mentioned at the top of this post, fit into this story?

I found out today that she happened to be teaching a Laughter Yoga session at a conference in California about four years ago. Jill, who had never participated in a Laughter Yoga session before, happened to be at that conference, and took part in the session Hilary was leading. Jill was very intrigued and when she arrived home, suggested to Dan that they become Laughter Yoga Teachers.

If Hilary hadn’t led that Laughter Yoga session at the conference, Jill might have never been motivated to suggest to Dan that they become Laughter Yoga Teachers. If they hadn’t become Laughter Yoga Teachers, I may have never known of the opportunity of Laughter Yoga and its transformational power.

In their presentation, Dan and Jill said, “Go towards what gives you strength and everything counts.”

Hilary transformed our lives simply by going towards what gave her strength and leading a group in Laughter Yoga four years ago.

When we say, “Yes” to the things that give us strength and share those things with others, we have no idea how far that “Yes” ripples out or how many people will be empowered to transform their lives.

Game of the Day

Think of the time when you were very surprised to realize the positive impact you had on somebody.

Know that your positive impact extends farther than you will ever know.

The ability to say “YES” is a powerful tool for bringing fun, excitement and joy into lives.

To illustrate what I mean, let’s say we are at Disney Land. We could walk around all day saying “NO” to going on every single ride, “NO” to stopping in every shop, and “no” to eating at each snack stand. At the end of the day, how would we feel? We would be hot, sweaty, tired, cranky and out the price of admission.

If on the hand, we say “YES” to the rides, “YES” to going into the shops and “YES” to eating lunch and snacks, we would leave Disney Land full of feelings of fun, excitement and joy. In fact, we want to come back tomorrow, the next day, and the next.

In the Disney example, it is easy to see the power and thrill of saying, “YES.” Yet when it comes to achieving the Beyond-Our-Comfort-Zone Extraordinary Results we want in life, I have found it is often tempting to say “NO!”

Why would we say “NO!” to the excitement and wonder of what we can create?

In a quote that gives me goose bumps every time I read it, Marianne Williamson gives us profound insight into this question. She states, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous…”

So sometimes we say “NO” to our dreams and what we truly want to achieve. For example, I’ve wanted to write a blog for years, but kept saying “NO.”

Later on in her quote, Williamson declares, “We are all meant to shine, as children do…” We have the capacity to find the activities we can say “YES” to.

Williamson ends her quote with “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Every time “we let our own light shine,” we are engaged in a heroic act!

Let us all inspire each other to tend to our light. Let’s do this by each day seizing the opportunities and engaging in the activities we can give a Heroic YES! to.

Game of the Day

What can you say a Heroic YES! to today?

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Jason Freeman is a professional writer, and a one-of-a-kind public speaker. He is the founder and CEO of Heroic Yes! Productions. Jason has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Nebraska. He knows the pain of perceiving one’s life through a lens of limitation and also the thrill of moving beyond that mindset. For more information on Jason’s powerful message, go to www.HeroicYesProductions.com.

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